Pages

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Running Linux on My Laptop

Since I knew I was going to the K12 Open Minds Conference in Indiana last week, I thought I'd better get my laptop running Linux full time before I found myself embarassed by using Windows at some inauspicious moment. I have a Toshiba Portege tablet, and while I have been set up with Ubuntu for dual booting for some time, there have been a couple of reasons that I have kept firing up Windows most of the time. Primarily, it has been the inability of Ubuntu to recognize my microphone... And my now almost total dependence on Skype has meant that without microphone capability, I just couldn't make Ubuntu a regular part of my day.

So, imagine my delight when I booted into Unbuntu a couple of weeks ago, allowed the system to update itself, and found the microphone working. Hurrah! Emboldened by this good news, and with Skype working well, I then checked on my next critical application: Flock. (There is something of a theme here--the applications are so critical, that they are driving the choice of operating system.) Flock is a web browser based on Firefox, but with some very handy media functionality built in. While I've been a faithful Firefox user for a LONG time, I'm finding Flock indispensible for the ability to easily pull in photos from my Flickr stream, to drag and hold photos or images into the media clippings sidebar, and to post new photos to Flickr from just by dragging them into the photo uploader. Flock also seems to accomodate almost every good Firefox add-on that I like and have become dependent on (my Verizon minutes alert, session manager, Twitbin /Twitterfox, and Diigo). So when I was able to get Flock running in Ubuntu, I knew I had it made. I spend 95% of my time in my web browser.

But the coup-de-grace was getting my Verizon broadband card working. Wow. Huge thanks to Tina Gasperson and others who have posted how to do this on the web.

I've been operating almost 100% in Unbuntu since that time, making the conference a much better experience, and also just my day-to-day computing. Booting up Ubuntu takes just about exactly 60 seconds, from start to productivity. My Windows XP machine, unfortunately, takes 6 or 7 minutes to really get going. (I'm not even going to mention the Windows automatic reboots after security updates, since they really tick me off... oh, I guess I just did...) I spent some of the plane rides reading through the above Ubuntu Hacks book, and was able to implement about a dozen useful tips, and save four or five more for when I want to be really bold. My next steps are to tackle the tablet computing--I needed help in Indiana to actually take out the pen from its holder and to see that Ubuntu already recognized it (sheepish smile), but need to be able to rotate the screen--and then hook up my DV camera or webcam to be able to "ustream."

SPECIAL NOTE: Michelle's power went out during the interview, so we will be rescheduling. Join me today, Wednesday, September 11th, ...

edtech.world

Report

How to Win at School

Total Pageviews

Kind Endorsements

"It’s true - @stevehargadon is a national treasure." @markjotter

"Steve is an amazing facilitator. He brings this wonderful combination of humility, hospitality and insight to conversations that matter in education."

-Bernard Bull

"The depth of your observations from last night is still resonating with me. I'm trying to think of another interview I've given where the questioner understood the material so well that he/she so regularly (and fluidly) went into new intellectual territory. I can't think of any. Pretty amazing. Thank you."

-David Shenk

"Steve is one of the most influential yet understated individuals in the world of Education. He gives thought leaders a widely attended global platform to voice their ideas to transform Education, and he does so with tremendous respect and intelligence."

-Charles Fadel

"Steve conducted the most in-depth interview I've ever been through and I enjoyed it to boot!"-Doc Searls

"Steve is the Oprah of education."

-Monika Hardy's Students

"Steve is the 'white knight' of education reform."-Michelle Cordy

"The nicest guy in ed tech."

-Rushton Hurley

"Steve is a national treasure."

-Leonard Waks

"Steve Hargadon is one of the most important change-makers of our time!"

-Connie Weber

"Steve is a connector. He is a bridge. He is a lifeline. He takes the lead. He gets things done. Quite simply, Steve Hargadon is a humble, kind, unsung hero who makes a difference in the lives of educators worldwide."

-Joyce Valenza

"Steve is a forge! The heat of the conversations he instigates and the amazing thinkers he interview for The Future of Education, soften the metal of some of my most valued visions and reshape them into ideas that are better … that excite me … that make it hard for me to sleep. If we succeed in hacking education into something that is, once again, relevant, we will owe more to Steve Hargadon than we will ever know."

-David Warlick

"He is a man of incredible character and wisdom, and again, I am lucky to know him and work well with him."-Lucy Gray